The Truth Hurts
by sylvie-winchester
Summary: Sylvie just wants out of the Winchester's mess until it's fixed; Dean's gone and Sam's angry. It just so happens that little Sylvie can handle a life on her own and isn't so keen to give it up when Sam comes calling.


__**I honestly don't know why I am publishing this because theres not a published or written down backstory, it's all in my head still but I'll try to give you a brief one. Basically, Sylvie is Castiel's 15 year old orphaned niece, who is cared for by the Winchester brothers and has been for five months now. This is set around the start of season 10 and Sylvie can't stand to be around Sam after he lost Dean.**__

* * *

><p>Six weeks ago Sylvie's life fell apart again for the second time, Dean had died and become a demon which made Sam angrily depressed; so much so that Sylvie decided to leave for a while to try stand on her own two feet, to take the stabilisers off her bike. For the first two weeks she roamed aimlessly around the streets, not really sure of what to do; she went to visit her uncle Castiel, but finding him in a bad state just upset her. He was staying in a hotel room which inspired Sylvie's decision to buy an apartment in Texas with her hacked credit card. The whole process was strangely easy with very few questions asked, one of them was about her age but she waved it away with her fake passport and everything was fine. Both the Winchesters had taught her well.<p>

Once she had settled into the apartment, she was approached on the stairway about taking up a vacant job in the diner below, to which she agreed with a shrug.

Three weeks ago she moved in and agreed to a job; now she was fully integrated into her new life, serving orders to tables and working behind the counter at the till; every thought about the brothers and her uncle had just been buried.

**SPN-SPN-SPN**

"Morning Sylv, can I have a coffee and a bacon sandwich to go, sweetheart?" Clive asked, smiling warmly at her.

"Sure thing, thats-" she keyed in the prices on the till but before she could finish her sentence, a five dollar note was pushed into her hand.

"Keep the change, darlin'" he winked at her, making her chuckle to herself.

"Thanks, Clive." she turned around and leant through the hatch that opened up into the kitchen "One bacon bap, please."

The rest of the day was one big blur of familiar faces and the noise of the cash register. Eight pm, the diner had closed but Sylvie had offered to clean the place because she had nothing better to do, plus the overtime pay wouldn't go amiss. In the kitchen she dried some plates, wiped down the surfaces and mopped the floors. Back in the restaurant part of the diner, she counted the cash, assorting it into various piles. There was the familiar ringtone of Dean slurring the chorus of one of his favourite rock songs and Sylvie instinctively grabbed her phone. Sam. It had been six weeks with no contact, why would he call her now?

"Hey…" said Sylvie, still sorting the money with her free hand.

"Sylv? Hey, look, I'm sorry about what I said, it was totally out of order and unnecessary… it's just the whole Dean thing, you know?" he apologised, it was sincere and his tone was serious enough that Sylvie knew that his heart was in his words.

"Heartwarming, truly, is that the only reason you called? Cos I'm kinda' busy at the moment." she muttered, slamming the cash register closed with a clunk.

"Busy? It's nine-thirty…" he queried curiously.

"Working, I work at this shabby lil' diner on the ground floor of my apartment block, the pays good enough, the customers are very friendly and to be honest I needed something to pass the time." she explained, her work was finished so she made her way to the door and walked outside to the entrance of her block "Anyways, enough about me, why did you call?"

"I have a lead on Dean, I think I know roughly where he is, but with your uncle as ill as he is I can't call on him for help, so I was wonder-"

"Let me guess, you were wondering if I would be interested in joining you in hunting him down?"

"Well, yeah…"

"No, sorry. I can't bear to see him like he is, this past six weeks have been mostly good, you know, pottering about on my own two feet with myself for company. Hell, I miss you, I miss my uncle, I miss Dean, but I can't come back now."

"Oh, well thats totally fine I guess… well, see you soon?"

"How long's soon, Sammy?"

"As soon as I fix Dean." he stated.

"If you can actually fix him, you don't know if it's possible this time." she reminded bluntly, before hanging up, they never said bye to each other just incase it ended up being the last time they spoke to each other; goodbye is too final.

Yawning, she shoved her phone into her small shoulder bag, shrugged on her denim jacket and climbed the stairs which lead up to her apartment. When the door opened the familiar smell of lived in apartment hit her, a mix of last nights dinner and washing detergent; she strolled inside and locked the door, sliding the chain across the door just to be extra safe. Her shoulder bag ended up on the couch and her jacket was laid on top of it. Sylvie hadn't eaten since breakfast, so she shuffled into the tiny open plan kitchen, tugged open the fridge door revealing a few microwave meals, none of which tickled her fancy. A pair of arms wrapped themselves around her waist from behind, taking her completely by surprise and making her jump.

"Good evening, lover." a boy whispered close to her ear, making a chill go down her spine.

"Shit, Chay, you scared the living shit outta' me, what do you want at this time?" she spun on the spot to face him before kissing him on the lips, wrapping her own arms around his neck. "I thought you told me you were busy so you couldn't come round tonight."

"Just wanted to see you, Sylv, I love you." he beamed, his cheesy smile never failed to cheer her up.

"And boy do I know it, you hungry? I have a lasagna for two or a pizza place on speed dial." she joked.

"Lovers lasagna, please." he requested, jumping over the breakfast bar and landing on the vacant couch; sprawling out like an overgrown child.

"Chay, are you drunk?" she yawned, twisting the knob on the microwave after placing the lasagna inside "because if you are you know exactly where the door is."

"No I ain't, we are supposed to be lovers you and I-"

"And we are, I can't help having family matters to see to, and my job at the diner is kinda important if I want to be able to buy food for you to eat."

"Yes, but we never see each other. I chose to stay on Earth for you, what is left of my family is in heaven waiting for me to return, but I am down here for you."

"Look, you see me like almost every night give or take the odd night, we are lovers, I love you. Lasagna is ready in fifteen, I'm just going to go change into my pyjamas so I'll be right back."

"Okay"

Now clad in a cheetah print onesie, Sylvie emerged from the bedroom to see that Chayyliel had halved the lasagna, slopped it onto two plates and laid them on the coffee table in front of the now turned on TV; some CSI programme was on and Chayyliel was fixed. Naturally, he put his arm over her shoulder when she plonked down on the couch and curled up against him; her head on his shoulder.

"Eat your gourmet lasagna." he said, giving his girlfriend a friendly nudge.

One look at the lasagna made her want to throw up, regardless she ate it on the couch and once she was finished she decided to go to bed; it had been a long day and the crime show just wasn't doing it for her.

"Right, I'm off to bed, you joining me, hun?"

"Once this finishes I'll be right with you. Goodnight till then!"

"Loser."

**SPN-SPN-SPN**

When there was a knock at the door, Chay couldn't tell whether or not it was on the show, so he ignored it. There was another couple of knocks, so reluctantly Chay creeped over to the door and opened it as far as the chain would allow.

"Chay?!" Sam exclaimed from the other side of the door "Wasn't expecting to see you here, can I come in?"

"Not my apartment, but sure." he replied, then proceeded to open the door wide enough for Sam to come in before locking it back up. "Uh, take a seat I guess…"

Sam lowered himself onto the tan leather couch awkwardly, attempting not to knock his broken shoulder during the process. His eyes were darting everywhere, taking in the apartment of his adopted niece; he didn't dislike the place, in fact he was considering asking where a lot of the stuff came from so he could add it to the bunker. A few moments later Chay came from the kitchen bearing two hot cups of tea and handed the larger one over to Sam, who took it gratefully.

"So, how are you doing then? Also, how'd you get the chicken wing?" Chay asked curiously, his attention divided equally between Sam and the ending of the show.

"As fine as can be expected, given the so called chicken wing. A demon flung me against a wall pretty hard, it smashed up my shoulder pretty bad." Sam explained.

"Demons will do that to you." Chay yawned whilst nodding his head understandingly, he then turned off the TV by the remote "Right, sorry I aren't much company, but it's getting on, it's almost midnight and I have been on Earth long enough to be able to feel tired. I'll go fetch you a blanket and some pillows, these couches are comfy enough to kip on."

"Oh, but can I speak to Sylvie? After all its the whole reason I made the drive." Sam yawned and rubbed one of his temples with his forefingers.

"Sam, you look absolutely shattered, it's not for me to tell you what to do like, but wait till morning. You'll both have a better conversation if you do."

"Please?"

"No, Sam."

From the storage cupboard beside the door, Chayyliel removed the fluffiest couple of blankets and two plump pillows, he then proceeded to make up the couch for Sam, knowing that it would be a challenge with only one functional arm; Chay then stood behind the couch and gave it a small pat hinting at Sam that he has finished..

"See you in the morning, night."

"Thanks, Chay." whispered Sam as Chay was now just outside Sylvie's bedroom, and he didn't want to be the one to wake her up.

**SPN-SPN-SPN**

Birds shot by the window, casting momentary shadows on the curtains of Sylvie's room; curled up under the duvet, Sylvie slept with Chayyliel at her side. Both were woken at the sound of a gentle knock at the door, when Sylvie saw Sam her expression hardened ever so slightly; Sam noticed.

"Sam?!" she murmured, running a hand through her bedhead and rubbing her eyes.

There was a moment of awkward silence.

"How about I go start cooking some breakfast, huh? Yeah I agree, I definitely should." said Chayy, darting out of the bedroom to leave the two of them to talk things out.

Awkwardly, Sylvie slipped out from under the covers and opened the curtains wide, momentarily blinding herself.

"Wasn't expecting to see you here… How'd you like my new place, huh?" Sylvie asked, desperately trying to start an off topic conversation. Talking about family matters was far from what she was comfortable doing.

"Yeah, its nice, I had a little look around last night whilst you were asleep. But I didn't drive all this way just to talk about apartments; I came to take you back to the bunker." Sam stated, taking a step forward, beginning to corner her so she couldn't dart out of the room. "I've got Dean now, all I need is you. Your coming with me whether you like it or not, Castiel wants to see you."

Sylvie stood her ground, showing no signs of alarm or fear, just pure anger; how dare Sam just barge into her home and corner her like some kind of uncontrollable animal. She didn't care that Castiel wanted to see her, as her beloved uncle had clearly backed Sam's plan to grab her.

"How are you going to grab me, huh? One human versus an angel?! Hah, don't make me laugh." she snarled evilly; when Sam looked at her all he could think of was how alike her and Dean are, brave, strong and undeniably demonic.

"What has Crowley done to you? Don't worry me and Cas will fix it, just come with me now, walk out that door with me, by my side, or I will take you out there." he said.

"How?"

"With these." Sam said, removing a pair of pentagrammed handcuffs usually used on demons, but the symbol did weaken angels enough for a human to handle them.

At the sight of the cuffs, Sylvie bolted over the bed and towards the door; but Sam sidestepped and in a flurry of limbs managed to click the cuffs around one of Sylvie's wrists, much to her discomfort. For Sam it was too much like Dean's capture. Angrily, Sylvie swung her free arm in Sam's direction and it clashed with his cheekbone, but Sam had a tight grip on the unoccupied cuff, pulling her towards him as if he was an angler reeling in a reluctant fish. Sylvie desperately scrabbled at the cuff, pulling at it with her other hand, before Sam grabbed her free wrist and finally clicked the empty cuff around it. The shrill scream that followed sent cracks up the wall and smashed a free standing mirror to pieces; there was a slight blue glow in her eyes, but it faded when the pentagrams around her wrists began to take affect.

For a few moments, Sylvie just knelt there, with her head hung low and cuffed hands outstretched, looking as if she was silently begging for her release. She tried pulling her arms apart, but only watched as the slack chain became taut.

"It's over, Sylv. That wasn't so bad now was it?" Sam almost comforted the young angel he just broke, receiving a small growl in response.

Sam reached down his functional arm and hooked it under Sylvie's shoulder, lifting her to her feet; when she was stable on her own two feet, Sam clenched a fist around the chain between the cuffs, and started to drag Sylvie out of her apartment. At first, Sylvie stood her ground in a last attempt of defiance, but after a sharp strong tug from Sam which almost pulled her vessels arms out of their sockets, she trudged along behind him.

**SPN-SPN-SPN**

In the kitchen area there was no sign of Chayyliel, just a folded piece of paper on the worktop which read "Had to pop out to get some food, be back in thirty, love Chay xx", whatever smidgen of hope she had left was crushed. Sam continued to lead her forwards, out of the apartment, down the stairs, across the small car park and then shoved her into the back of the impala, adjusting the cuffs so she was attached to the car door. He hopped into the front seat and drove away in the direction of the bunker. When Sylvie began tugging on the cuffs out of frustration, the links of the chains jangled against each other, but the cuffs were still very much attached to both her wrists and the rear door.

"Pulling on them is only going to hurt you and damage the car. I wouldn't want to anger Dean when he gets better." Sam said quietly, his attention focused on the road ahead in more ways than one.

"I don't care." she replied bluntly; it was true however, her wrists, the car, she didn't care in the slightest.

"Well I do, please stop."

"Or what?"

"My god, what the hell is wrong with you? You go from being the nicest girl I've ever met, to some shell of the girl I used to know, filled with hate, spite and anger; just like Dean." Sam raised his voice, which in turn emphasised his frustration at two of the people he loved most. Why had they broken this way?

To this Sylvie did not reply, instead she allowed there to be an awkward silence all the way to the bunker.

SPN-SPN-SPN

"Come on." said Sam, opening the rear door and almost pulling Sylvie completely off the seat. "Now don't try anything."

Warily, he unlocked one of the cuffs, enabling him to un-attach the cuffs from the car door and when he went to grab her wrist back again, Sylvie moved it closer to him willingly; Sam looked at her puzzled, but her eyes were shut loosely so no eye contact could be made. She hopped out of the car without force or being asked, then Sam held the chain again and lead her into the bunker.

**SPN-SPN-SPN**

At the foot of the iron stairs stood Castiel, who was glaring up at his niece in disgust as Sam lead her down; but Castiel's eyes showed a different emotion.

"I'm gonna put her in a spare room, near Dean or not?" asked Sam from the foot of the stairs.

"Away from Dean." replied Castiel responsibly, considering what Dean might do to her if he were to stumble across her.

At this decision she had no say in, she scowled at her uncle, who looked at her patronisingly with a look that said 'I'm your uncle, I know whats best for you' which made her want to punch him straight in the face.

"Lonely prison cell for me then, huh." she sighed and smiled to herself hopelessly.

"It's not a cell, it's a room." corrected Castiel.

"It might as well be a cell for me, because that's what it will become." Sylvie snapped, before Sam tugged at her cuffs and lead her away down the entrance of one of the corridors.

The dungeon, in which Dean was still receiving treatment for his demonic soul, was coming up on the right, even from this distance Sylvie could see that the door was open, as light spread across the floor. Upon this realisation, Sam had picked up the pace, striding down the corridor so much so that Sylvie was having trouble keeping up; her arms outstretched fully just to try give her legs time to catch up. Sylvie wanted to see Dean, she longed to see him, but the groans of pain told her she didn't.

Near the dungeon door, Sam took a turn and halted abruptly in front of a door so suddenly, that Sylvie ran straight into the back of him. From his jean pocket, Sam revealed a key. He twisted the door-knob and pushed the door so that it would open enough to reveal the room. It was a bog standard box room, a single bed in the left corner with an oak bedside cabinet right beside it. There was a fluffy fake cow-hide rug spread across the floor, as the concrete floors were awfully dull and cold. On top of the bedside cabinet stood a small desk lamp and there was a little red alarm clock beside that. Sam pushed Sylvie inside, then moved to block the doorway.

"Home sweet home." he said, leaning against the door frame on his good shoulder.

"Why couldn't you just put me in _my _room?" she whined. "And why am I still in these things?"

She shook her wrists which made the chain jangle.

"Your room wouldn't be a punishment and knowing your current mood, you'd probably destroy what little you have. Sorry, but the cuffs are staying on as assurance. I'll bring some food later." Sam explained, slamming the door shut. There was a reassuring clunk, at least for Sam, of the lock locking, Sam stuffed the key back in his pocket and then walked away, ignoring the bangs of Sylvie's fists against the door.

**SPN-SPN-SPN**

It was dark and strangely peaceful in the cell with just herself for company; there was nothing to do but stare at the dull walls and think about her life. So far it had been a train wreck and she couldn't see it getting any better. Hours passed agonisingly slowly, with every minute feeling like an hour in itself; Sylvie had started talking to herself at some point. The talking turned into singing the lyrics of Dean's classic rock from the impala rolling fluently off her tongue.

It had gotten to a point now where the darkness was eery and the floor was cold beneath her, so she scrambled onto the bed as best she could and switched on the lamp. A dull light exploded from the lamp which made her blink her eyes repeatedly so they could adjust to the sudden change in brightness. It was a welcome change. She realised there wasn't even a window for her to daydream out of, just plain old walls un-evenly coated in lumpy beige paint. Many angels found it hard to sleep, but much like her uncle, Sylvie had no problem; she curled up on top of the bed and let herself drift into sleep.

At some point in the night Sylvie was woken by the screams of Dean, they echoed down every hallway and into every room. They were so clear that Sylvie thought maybe Sam had moved her into the dungeon whilst she slept. There was some conversation going on between Sam and Cas, and lots going on between the two brothers, heated and full of hate from Dean. In her time she had met a few demons, not many as her mother was very protective over her, each and everyone of them had sent fear flowing so deep within her, she could have sworn she felt it in her bones. But this was young, infant Sylvie, not the young lady she was now. Plus those were the demons of then, now a days angel made her laugh pitifully.

"Sam sent me to bring you food." Castiel said softly, snapping her out of her flashback.

Looking up she could see the trench coated Castiel holding a bowl of soup and a glass of fruit juice. He placed them on the bedside cabinet before perching on the bed beside her, staring at the walls rather than her as he spoke.

"Thanks." she croaked, her throat considerably dry after several hours of no liquid and bad singing.

"I didn't know you ate food." Castiel stated.

"Yeah, well now you do." she yawned, hinting at her uncle to leave her alone.

"I never ate during my first year, you don't need to eat at all, ever, so why do you?" he asked curiously, half turning to face his wayward niece, who was laid back with her arms behind her head.

"Taste, Castiel. Food tastes nice. Food warms my vessel." Sylvie replied half-heartedly, like it pained her to explain her feelings. "Food passes the time."

"But the molecules-"

"Please, get over yourself uncle, food is made up of molecules so why are you so bothered if you can taste every single one of them." she sighed, rubbing her eyes.

"Oh… Ok. I'll be leaving now, Dean's almost healed by the way." Castiel got up and made his way towards the door. "I just thought you'd like to know."

"Oh, good." she replied, genuinely happy for Dean; at least if they were to see each other she wouldn't have to see the demonic face hidden from humans. "Did you see his face?"

"Yes." Castiel replied, looking deeply sad. He attempted a smile, failed miserably, and then locked the door. She listened to the sound of his footsteps as they got further and further away.

Now alone she dunked the spoon into the chicken soup, making sure she got some chicken and some of the veggies on the spoon, then she lifted the spoon carefully to her mouth and took a large slurp. It was fantastic and just how she liked it; Sam always knew how to make a nice soup. The soup was washed down by the entire glass of peach juice, cooling her warmed throat.

Logically, she shouldn't be in the room much longer, what with Dean on the mend, Sam and Cas would have time to see to her now.

**SPN-SPN-SPN**

A couple of days later Sam unlocked the door and let her out, she was glad to be out of there and her thoughts went straight to her little apartment in Texas, and spending her evenings on her own couch eating junk food with Chayyliel; now that was heaven, more heavenly than heaven itself.

Those thoughts were crushed when Sam announced that she wasn't allowed to leave the bunker for the foreseeable future.

"You mean I can't leave? At all?" Sylvie asked, stopping dead in her tracks behind Sam; he stopped and faced her.

"Me and Castiel decided it was for the best, after all me and my brother are supposed to be looking after you for him whilst he works anyways." he shrugged, not seeing what all the commotion was about seen as Sylvie had been with them for a good many months now.

"But my apartment, my job?!" she yelled, waving her arms around in sheer disbelief at her guardians lack of interest in her self-assembled life.

"That was a lie, it was never real. That was a short-lived fantasy, trust me when I was younger I did much the same; I ran away from my dad and Dean, and lived alone for like two weeks or something. It was great, doing what I wanted with no one to tell me what to do, I felt truly free without a care in the world; I even had a dog. But then they found me and here I am today. You can never outrun your past; your uncle saved heaven not so long ago, he is practically famous and that means there is more risk of you being found out to be alive." Sam raised his voice, "I will not loose you, neither will Castiel."

"For the millionth time, they don't want me anymore! That whole ordeal was _ages _ago! Before the fall, before Cas saved heaven, before everything!" she countered confidently, inching closer to Sam.

"What do you think they'll do if they find out that he has a little niece alive? Think 'aw yeah, the one that got away, lets go and welcome her back to heaven'? No! You'll do as your told or you'll find yourself being used as a bargaining chip, or bait to lead Castiel to his death up there." Sam exploded, Sylvie was shaken up and took a few steps back.

His argument was very valid, Sylvie knew this all along however, but having him yell it at her at point blank range like that, really got the point across.

"Yeah, okay." she whispered, nodding her head a few times to reassure herself; but mainly to fight away the tears she felt forming in her eyes.

Sam couldn't think of a response to this, he made his point bluntly and she had understood it quickly with no questions asked, he had done what he had to to keep her on the straight and narrow; that's what he told himself anyway. He smiled warmly and gestured at her to walk beside him. Dean was healed and Sylvie was back under control; Sam was content for the moment, at least until the next thing went south.

"Hey, how about you go see Dean for a bit? I know he's dying to see you just as much as your dying to see him." he suggested, looking down at little Sylvie as they walked side by side.

"I'd love to." came her soft reply, she stood on her tiptoes and hugged Sam hard, trying not to hurt his broken shoulder, and he hugged her back closely, so close in fact that she could whisper in his ear "I'm sorry for the last few weeks, thanks for opening my eyes."

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><p><em><strong>So, I hope that made sense and I am sorry if it didn't! Also, apologies for the lovey-dovey cheesiness; I was so engrossed in this when I was writing it was unreal, so yeah, sorry! If you happen to want some more Sylvie and Winchester action, you could check out my other fic called "Before the Fall" which is a mega work in progress! Reviews welcome ;)<strong>_


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